Amendments, questions and deadlines

Solicitations change. Buyers answer questions, move dates, fix mistakes and sometimes cancel. Keeping up is part of bidding.

Ask questions the right way

Most solicitations set a question deadline, often a week or two before offers are due. Questions sent late may not be answered.

• Send questions in writing to the contact named in the solicitation.
• Number your questions and point to the page or section each one is about.
• Ask about real problems: conflicts between documents, missing information, unclear quantities or unclear dates.

Answers are shared with every bidder

When a buyer answers a question that matters to everyone, it shares the answer with all potential bidders, usually as an amendment. Assume your competitors will read your question.

So:

• Do not reveal your approach or your pricing in a question.
• Think before asking the buyer to enforce a requirement you cannot meet.
• Never ask for information about other companies.

Follow the contact rules

During an open solicitation, talk only to the contact named in it, in the way it allows. Do not go around them to other staff. Be careful what you offer to write for a buyer before a solicitation: a company that writes the work statement or specifications for a buy can be barred from competing for it.

What amendments do

An amendment can change the due date, the work, the evaluation, the price sheet or the forms. It can also post the answers to questions. Each amendment has a number.

• Acknowledge every amendment. The solicitation tells you how: often by signing the amendment form (Standard Form 30) or by listing the amendment numbers in your offer. An offer that does not acknowledge a required amendment can be rejected.
• Re-read what changed. Update your compliance list, your schedule and your price.

Check right before you submit

Open the notice on SAM.gov or the buyer's own site the day before you submit, and again the day you submit. Look for new amendments and confirm the current due date and time zone.

Cancellations

Buyers sometimes cancel a notice. A cancelled notice can also drop out of search results, which makes it easy to miss. If a notice you are working on disappears, open it by its link or number and check its status. Never send an offer to a cancelled notice.

Deadline traps

• A deadline at 11:59 p.m. or on a weekend leaves no room for a portal problem. Plan to submit at least a day early.
• Watch the time zone. A 2:00 p.m. Eastern deadline is 1:00 p.m. Central.
• Late offers are generally not considered, except in narrow cases. Do not count on an exception.

How Victavio helps

Victavio checks SAM.gov for updates every day and shows each deadline in the buyer's time zone and yours. It sends deadline reminders for bids in your pipeline. The buyer's own page is still the final word, so check it before you submit.